Kayleigh
by arian
Summary: Yes, I'm nearly as bad at titles as I am at summaries and picking genres. Next fic after Stormy Sky. What more do you need to know?


Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Kayleigh 

By Arian

Author's note: The character Pandora is owned by Lady Gizmo. She does have a whole background and everything and I know LG is planning to write at least one story about her. So you could say this fic is partly for her. It's also for some other people. They know who they are. This continues straight on from the end of "Stormy Sky", in a series that began with Half-forgotten Interlude. 

"Oh stop that." Arian muttered irritably, watching Laguna practically bounce along the path. After everything that had happened so far tonight, he was on a high and even her whinging wasn't going to bring him back to the ground.

"Y'know, that reminds me of somethin'." Laguna stopped and looked up at the huge structure of Garden. The moon shone onto its iridescent surfaces, dulling all the bright colours to a soft silver-blue. "I'm not sure what, but it definitely looks like _something_." He chuckled suddenly and walked after the woman. "I'm sort of surprised it hasn't fascinated you yet. Most things do, don't they? When are you gonna sit and contemplate this place?"

"When I next get fed up with you. So probably tomorrow." She sighed, almost wishing that Kiros and Ward had come with them, so that she'd get some intelligent conversation.

Ellone looked up with a soft smile. "Squall will be going loopy in there. I wonder how Rinoa is? We would have heard if she wasn't alright, wouldn't we?"

"Probably. I'm sure she'll be fine." Arian commented absently. A wicked smile crossed her face. "You're going to be an aunt, Elle. You'll have a niece."

"I know. I think I'll quite enjoy it." The girl smiled. 

Arian's smile turned from wicked to plain malicious. "And Laguna will be a grandpa. Did you figure that one out yet?" She raised her voice so that the person in question could hear. Ellone chuckled quietly as he stopped and turned round inquisitively. 

"What?" He said, stunned. Apparently, he had been the only one not to make that connection yet. He blinked at Arian and screwed his face up. "Aw no! I'm not _that_ old yet. I can't be… no!" 

"Grandpa Laguna…" She mused, still wearing the smile. 

"Hey! No! Stop it! Oh, I've really got to have a word with Squall about _that_."

"You'll be getting grey hair soon." Arian commented innocently and Laguna looked absolutely horrified. 

"Stop saying things like that!" He thought for a moment. "Or I'll teach the baby to start calling you grandma."

"Oooh, yeah, Squall'd love that." She chuckled. "Anyhow, I'm not its grandma. So there."

The three walked up to the main entrance, quickly gaining access from the man at the gate, before stopping and looking around inside. 

"Who are you?" A loud voice called out, and they turned to see a brash young man walking towards them. With him was a slightly shorter girl with dark brown hair. A scar ran across her cheek and she wore the same expression as Seifer.

"Great. _Two_ kids with an attitude." Laguna muttered quietly on seeing her.

"Sis?" Seifer spotted Ellone as he got closer and he frowned slightly. He guessed who Laguna was almost immediately and cast him a quick, uninterested glance. "Who are you?" He asked Arian bluntly, shooting her an unimpressed look.

The blond woman winked quickly at Laguna and stepped forwards, drawing herself up to her full height, her posture changing dramatically. 

"Who am I? Who the hell are you, more like?" She said sharply. "Well, answer me!"

Seifer blinked at her in amazement. Arian had looked so inoffensive; he hadn't expected this at all. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "Stand up straight when you're talking to me! You're addressing the First Lady of Esthar, boy, so you'd better make it good!" Arian stopped and grinned. 

The girl at Seifer's side laughed suddenly, realising that she wasn't serious. "So you're here to see Squall and Rinoa then?"

"Yeah." Laguna nodded. "You know where they are?"

The girl gave him a flat stare. "What kind of question is that? Isn't it _obvious_ where they are?" She sighed suddenly and rolled her eyes. "Seifer, I'm being remarkably patient here, waiting to be introduced. If you wouldn't mind…?" She said pointedly.

"We've only been talking a minute! It's not as if I'm deliberately –"

"Seifer!" The girl sighed again. "Do we have to argue about this? Just… tell me who they are."

"Fine. This is Panda. Well, Pandora. Everyone happy so far?" Seifer gave a long-suffering sigh. "And Panda, this is Ellone. Or Sis. He's Laguna, right?" Seifer shot the man a slight questioning glance and Laguna nodded amiably. "Yeah. Thought so. And she's apparently the First Lady of Esthar." He pointed at Arian.

"Arian." The woman introduced herself with a faint smile.

Laguna gave her a long look and waved his hand some. "Go on. And the rest of it."

"You…" She broke off and shook her head at the grin on his face. She tried to outstare Laguna for a few moments but eventually gave up. "Arian Loire." She sighed, directing a sour smile at Laguna that spoke volumes about her opinion of his attitude towards her name at the moment. She rolled her eyes discretely when Laguna wasn't looking and turned back to Seifer.

"If you can show us where the soon-to-be-parents are, I'd be ever so grateful. I've got all kinds of sarcastic comments stored up for Squall and I don't want to forget one before I get there." Arian commented.

Seifer perked up suddenly, interested. "This sounds new. Someone who doesn't like Squall. Even Panda likes him, so why don't you?"

"I'm sort of sleeping with his father. Squall has a problem with that. It's him who doesn't like me. I just retaliate." She said casually, watching a wicked grin spread across both Seifer's and Pandora's faces. She cast a rueful smile at Laguna, who was looking a little uncomfortable with the conversation. "Married now, too. He'll like that even less."

"Oh, this is going to be just great!" Seifer laughed. 

"Isn't it just?" Pandora smirked happily, throwing her arm around Seifer's waist while the two led the group along the corridor.

"Drop the name thing." She hissed to Laguna as they walked. 

He managed to look innocent, despite the grin. "What name thing?"

"You know." Arian said lowly. "You know exactly what I'm talking about so don't give me that I'm-oh-so-innocent-butter-wouldn't-melt look. It won't work."

"Is my little wife slightly put out about something?" He asked the ceiling, amused.

Arian seethed. "That… was offensive." She looked at Laguna's blissful smile and decided that it was probably intentionally offensive. "And what's with the little? I'm only two inches shorter than you!" She sighed wearily. "Just stop with the names already. Don't make me regret this. It's only been three hours." She held up her hand, pointedly showing him the ring.

"You wouldn't be _ashamed _of me, would you, Arian?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting there fast." She muttered under her breath. "No. It's nothing like that." The woman said seriously. "I'm just uncomfortable with it. I've been married for three hours, I've only _known_ about it for four… It's just… still strange. And you aren't helping by announcing it at every opportunity."

"Ok. I'll stop." Laguna shrugged.

She sniggered quietly. "Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything until _after_ we'd spoken to Squall…" She laughed, too quiet for Laguna to hear.

Laguna turned his head back to speak with Ellone and Arian looked forwards to where Seifer and Pandora were talking quietly. She wanted to speak with them some more. They interested her, but she didn't want to interrupt their conversation, so she made do with Laguna, pulling his arm around her shoulders. "That's better." She said amiably.

He cast her an amused look, but said nothing. 

When they reached the infirmary, Laguna paused outside. "You sure it's alright for us to go in?"

Panda screwed her face up and gave a short laugh. "The rest of the entourage is in there, so a few more isn't going to hurt." She rolled her eyes, clearly showing her opinion of Squall's friends.

The room they entered was chaos. They couldn't see Rinoa from the doorway, but Quistis, Selphie, Zell, Irvine and Squall were all plainly visible. Slight worry marred the ecstatic look on Squall's face, however.

"Get them out! All of them!" Rinoa's shrill voice could be heard. The others started for the door, understanding and accepting what the girl wanted. Squall didn't move.

"Squall! If you ever come _near_ me again, I'll-" Her voice broke off into a loud gasp. The boy looked around confused. 

"Why?" He asked bewildered. "What did I do?"

Laguna chuckled and shook his head. "Bit late for us to be having _that_ little talk, isn't it, Squall?" 

Arian sniggered as they were all shepherded out of the room. "I feel kinda sorry for Rinoa." She decided. "How much longer do you think it'll take?"

"That's anyone's guess." Quistis told her. "It could be hours yet, or just a few more minutes. We just don't know." The instructor watched as Squall hovered anxiously at the door, some distance from the rest of the group. She laughed quietly. "He really doesn't know what to do with himself. I've never seen him at such a loss." Quistis nodded towards Pandora and Seifer. "How do you like Pandora?" She asked carefully.

"I like her." Arian shrugged.

"I forgot about your sense of humour." She conceded. 

"Why? Don't you?" 

Quistis' gaze flickered back to Squall for an instant before returning to the brown-haired girl. "We… don't get on."

Seifer sauntered up to the pair, Panda still at his side. "Don't start telling tales, Quistis. An instructor should know better. Besides," He continued, in a slightly mocking tone of voice. "The First Lady of Esthar should know better than to listen to second hand rumours." 

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Arian sighed. "It was only a joke. Sort of. And Quistis hadn't even said anything, so stop –"

"Excuse me? Is he right? First Lady?" Quistis blinked, astonished. 

Selphie had been listening in on the conversation and now came leaping over to join in. "What?"

"Yes. Seifer's right. I am. We… sort of got married." She gave them a slightly apologetic look and held her hand out. "A ring and a bit of paper. Not as if it really makes much difference." She sighed. 

"Oooh! When? Did he ask you? What did he say?" Selphie chirruped excitedly. "Tell me!"

Arian glanced over to where Laguna was snickering quietly at the questions being fired and she gave him her very best long-suffering look-what-you've-done-this-is-all-your-fault expression.

"Well, answer her." He smiled.

"Selphie, couldn't we do this some other time?" Arian said hopefully.

"It's alright, Selph. I'll tell you. Laguna told me all about it." Ellone smiled at Arian, leaving the woman to wonder if Ellone had been told what _actually_ happened, or the revised Laguna-version of events.

Everyone's attention was diverted when the door opened and Squall was motioned inside. Selphie raced up, pulling at Dr. Kadowaki's arm before she could close the door. 

"She alright? What's happening?!" The girl said, punctuating her questions with tugs on the doctor's sleeve.

The doctor smiled and opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a baby's cry from inside the room. She merely smiled again and pulled the door closed, leaving Selphie gaping, wide-eyed.

Laguna had started forwards, but Arian held firmly to his arm and shook her head. "No, Laguna. This is just for them. Let them have some time on their own before you go barging in there."

"But I wanna see –" He protested, looking wistfully at the door.

"Later. There will be time later. Then you can gawk and coo at the poor child for as long as you want." She smiled and motioned for him to sit down, which he did, somewhat reluctantly.

When the door next opened, some twenty minutes later, the other SeeDs walked in eagerly, all apart from Seifer and Pandora, who had disappeared.

Laguna started up again, but once more Arian pulled him away. "Will you wait your turn?" She sighed. "I don't know. Maybe you _do_ have more right than them, but you'd be better off if you waited. Trust me."

"Why?" He asked, baffled.

"Because the SeeDs will be anxious not to stay in there too long. They know that we're out here, waiting, so they'll hurry up. If we wait til last, you'll get longer to coo over the baby. Let's just hope it's not a monster made in Squall's image…" She snickered quietly, but Laguna didn't really appreciate the joke.

The SeeDs finally walked out, looking somewhat gooey-eyed, talking quietly amongst themselves. They waved at Ellone, Arian and Laguna and left. It was too late for any prolonged conversations.

Laguna stood and shot Arian a questioning glance, waiting to see if there were any further objections. 

"Go on." She said fondly, shoving him towards the door. "Let's see what hideous creature awaits us." She winked at Ellone and the three of them walked into the room, a little hesitantly. 

Rinoa was sat up, with Squall perched next to her, with a small bundle in her arms. The girl looked completely exhausted, but happy. Her dark hair damp and straggled around her face but her eyes shone with a joy that was almost otherworldly. Ellone immediately threw her arms around Squall and he talked animatedly to her. 

"How are you?" Arian smiled, tilting her head to one side. 

Rinoa merely gave a weak grin in response, her expression almost amused as she noticed Laguna peering warily at the bundle in her arms. 

The blond woman stepped back out of his way, her eyes infinitely more amused than Rinoa's.

"What's her name?" Ellone asked softly. 

"Kayleigh." Rinoa replied. "Kayleigh Leonhart."

"Oh, that's nice." Ellone cooed quietly, watching the child with something that approached adoration.

Arian had been keeping back, only marginally taking an interest, but suddenly her eyes narrowed and she stepped up behind Laguna, pulling his left hand away from where he had placed it firmly behind his back, his green eyes occasionally flickering to Squall.

"You wouldn't be _ashamed_ of me, Laguna, would you?" She breathed quietly into his ear, scarcely moving her lips at all. She twisted the ring on his finger to remind him. "You asked. Don't tell me you regret it. If you're serious about this, then you are _not_ going to hide it from Squall. I'm not going to let you squirrel this away every time Squall appears, understand? That's not fair on any of us." She leaned back, content she had made her point. She didn't really know what he was worrying for. Squall wouldn't notice anything different tonight. He was too exhilarated. 

Laguna glanced guiltily back at her but Arian merely gave him a sweet smile in reply. She knew she didn't need to make any other comments. 

"Would you like to hold her?" Ellone's voice interrupted the discrete conversation. Rinoa had passed Kayleigh to Elle's arms and the girl was rocking the baby gently. "Uncle Laguna?"

Arian grinned at his slightly startled expression. He ran his hands back through his long hair and blinked. "Um…Yeah." He said absently, then appeared to wake up. "That'd be great!" He enthused.

Leaning back against the wall, Arian watched, amused, as he took Kayleigh hesitantly from Elle, shifting the bundle in his arms until he was comfortable. He looked across at Rinoa for approval and she nodded. "Yeah. That's right. Just hold her like that." 

Squall stood in silence. Observing every reaction the others made towards his tiny daughter, his grey eyes only left the small baby for split seconds at a time.

"She already has hair." Laguna commented, surprised, and the blond woman leaned towards him, peering into the blanket. There were already patches of dark hair on Kayleigh's tiny head. 

Laguna started to coo quiet nonsense to the baby, his face softened and his eyes adoring. Arian raised an eyebrow in mild disgust and resumed leaning against the wall. 

"She's beautiful." He said affectionately. 

"I know." Squall murmured quietly, silently pleased at the sense of approval.

"Now really," Arian sighed, rolling her eyes. "I expected that sort of thing from you, Laguna, being the complete romantic that you are, but I thought Squall had more sense."

Everyone looked quizzically at her and she blinked. "She might turn out beautiful, but at the moment she's ugly and wrinkled and red. No offence." She added quickly. 

Rinoa laughed, but Squall's expression fixed into his usual deadpan. Laguna grinned suddenly and started to walk towards her. "Here. Hold her for a bit." 

"No. That's ok. Really." Arian waved her hands quickly to ward him off. 

"Go on." He said, with a strange smile.

"Laguna…" Rinoa interrupted, worriedly. "Perhaps you shouldn't make her. If she doesn't want to…"

He shook his head, still smiling that same smile. He knew why Rinoa was so concerned. It had been months since Arian had lost her own child, but it wasn't forgotten. It might have seemed callous for him to keep waving this child at her, but he knew that was not her problem. Arian didn't really _like_ small children. If she had her own, it might have been different, but as it stood, she was very wary of babies and children in general. They seemed to irritate her in some indefinable way.

As she waved her hands in front of her, trying to keep him away, Laguna firmly dumped the baby into her arms. Arian screwed her face up and turned her head away, holding the child at a distance as if she might catch something.

"You'll pay for that, Laguna." She threatened. "Take Kayleigh back to her mother and leave me be."

"Nope. Hold her properly."

"Do I have to?" She whined, knowing the argument had been lost from the moment the baby had been pushed into her arms. "How?" She asked after a while, conceding defeat. 

Laguna chuckled and started to arrange her arms so that she held Kayleigh close to her chest. "Hmm. Yeah, I think that's about right."

Arian risked looking down at the wrinkled face of the bundle. She tried to push her sight beyond the child's typical baby appearance to see what she might become. She gave a low, evil sounding chuckle. "Oh, I _like_ her!" She exclaimed suddenly, worrying everyone in the room. 

"Why?" Squall asked warily. 

"Whaddya mean 'why'? Don't _you_ like Kayleigh, Squall?" Arian snickered.

Squall let the comment pass and retrieved his child when Arian started to coo, just as Laguna and Ellone had done before her. There was something about the blond woman's sudden softening towards Kayleigh that unnerved Squall, alerting him to something, although he had no idea what.

"Let's leave them in peace for a while." Arian said, literally dragging Laguna away from Kayleigh. "They probably need some rest. I know I do." She gave him a meaningful look just as he was about to protest. "Do I need to remind you that I haven't slept for three days?"

Ellone laughed. "Neither have I. You get loud when you argue."

Squall gave the three a bemused look, about to ask what they were talking about, but he decided against it and simply shook his head.

***************

Laguna couldn't even begin to guess what time it was. It was too dark for it to be morning, but it wouldn't be long now until the sunlight bounced off the strangely metallic exterior of Garden. 

Too much had happened in one night and it blended into a surreal episode that seemed to have lasted a week. He gave a rueful smile in the dark, mildly amused at the realisation that this was, technically, their wedding night. _So much for that._ He snickered quietly. After three days of sleep deprivation, quickly followed up by all the excitement tonight, both of them had been dead on their feet, only just making it to the usual room they stayed in before they collapsed. 

Laguna sighed happily and considered Kayleigh, his current favourite subject. He hadn't ever had the opportunity to watch Squall grow up and he was half-hoping to make up some of that lost time with this child. Arian's sudden announcement of liking Kayleigh bothered him a bit, though. He wondered what she was up to and decided it was probably some elaborate scheme to wind Squall up, but he couldn't see how it would work. 

He smiled again. Arian's head had literally fallen onto the pillow hours ago and she hadn't moved since. Rolling over to watch her properly, he changed his contemplation of Kayleigh for a new subject. He liked to watch Arian when she was asleep. She'd probably hate it if she knew, but that just made it more fun. Usually she woke before he did, but sometimes he would still find her fast asleep when he woke and he'd just watch her for a while. 

Laguna pushed the fair hair back from her face, spreading it onto the pillow behind her. Arian's face was unusually soft and serene, her lips twitching into a smile as he watched. She was dreaming. In spite of everything, her face still had a childlike cast to it and it became more apparent when she was in this state, when her cynical eyes couldn't malign the effect. 

Making an incomprehensible noise, Arian wriggled towards him, sensing warmth through her sleep. Realising that he couldn't see her properly if she was so close, Laguna grinned and pushed her back, holding her shoulders. The woman's lips moved, talking as she slept, and a disgruntled frown crossed her features. Releasing her, Laguna shook his head in amusement as she snuggled into him. Arian homed in on warmth in her sleep. It was something that she needed and it was a necessity for her. She made a small noise of contentment that was almost a purr and slipped back into a deeper sleep, resting happily in his arms.

It was another half an hour before she stirred again. Fidgeting some, she changed states with enormous dissatisfaction, wanting to sink back into her dreams. Without opening her eyes she gave a low groan. "Laguna, what time is it?"

"Oh, sleeping beauty's decided to wake up then?" He grinned, watching her eyes flicker open, unimpressed. 

"Aren't I supposed to get a charming prince or something?" She asked dryly. "Funny, but I don't see one anywhere."

"I'm deeply offended." Laguna sniggered.

"Ok, enough banter already. Tell me the time."

He shrugged. "Probably about seven, maybe eight o'clock. Something like that."

Arian groaned again and buried her face in the pillow. "Too early. Far too early. Wake me up tomorrow."

"You won't be able to sleep. You can never sleep once you've woken up. You always moan about it. You may as well give in and get up now."

"I hate it when you're right." She said simply. "It really irritates me when you're right about something. You know me better than _I_ know me and it's just horrible." 

***************

Arian looked down at the child in Laguna's arms and gave a small frown. Having stolen Kayleigh from her mother again, Laguna was more than happy to stand and murmur nonsense to her. Arian ignored that and looked critically at the child, before glancing up and searching Laguna's face, then she turned towards Squall with another searching look. 

Squall simply blinked at her, puzzled. 

"Who else is going to visit?" Ellone was asking Rinoa.

"Edea and Cid are going to turn up later today, I think. I don't know if anyone else is going to pay us a visit."

"What about General Caraway?"

Rinoa's face suddenly froze and her brown eyes went cold. "He's not invited." She said shortly. "I don't want him here."

"Rinoa, we probably should let him see Kayleigh if he wants to. It would only be unfair to her if you kept him away." Squall tilted his head to one side, his expression unusually sympathetic.

The girl struggled for some time, but eventually looked up again. "We'll invite him in a few days. Let me just have some time to get accustomed to the idea first."

Squall nodded and turned back to Arian and Laguna, only to find them squabbling over whose turn it was to hold the baby. 

"Laguna, you've had her for ages. It's my turn now. Stop being selfish." 

"Five more minutes."

"If you harm one hair on her head with your idiotic bickering, I'll kill you both without flinching once." Squall told them flatly, effectively ending the argument. After a little more badgering, Laguna was persuaded to pass the child to Arian. 

"Don't go all broody on me, Laguna." She warned. "The answer is no. And I'm not going to change my mind. Ever."

"I didn't say anything!" He protested.

"You didn't need to. You had that gooey look on your face, plus the fact that I can read you like a book." She twisted the tiny bundle that was Kayleigh and waved the baby at Laguna. "Take a long look. This is the only time you're going to see me holding a child. Do we understand each other?"

"You're paranoid. I haven't said anything."

"Like I said, I _know_ you." The rest of the sentence was interrupted by a small noise from the child, followed by a groan from Laguna. 

"Thanks, Arian. Really." He screwed his face up and plucked at the front of his shirt, watching the white goo in disgust. "Now she's been sick on me. That's wonderful."

The woman sniggered quietly. "That's really sort of funny." She commented, receiving a dirty look for the remark. She handed Kayleigh back to Squall and smiled ruefully. "You can have some peace and quiet now. We'll be back later."

***************

"Shower." Arian said simply, pointing absently towards the bathroom as she picked up the book she'd left on the table, flicking through to find the page she had been reading. 

Laguna thought about that for a moment and stepped up behind her, opening his mouth to speak, but she interrupted.

"Stay where you are. Go and wash."

"Isn't that a bit of a contradictory thing to say?" He snickered, a slight grin on his face. "I think you should take a wash too."

"I'm not the one Kayleigh was sick on. And I had a bath this morning. I'm not dirty." Arian replied vaguely, still somewhat engrossed in the book.

"That's not quite what I meant."

Wha- oh. _Oh._" She chuckled quietly. "Heh. No. I don't think so." The woman screwed her nose up. "You don't exactly smell appealing right now." She flicked over a page and pointed to the bathroom again, paying little or no attention as Laguna shrugged and wandered off in the direction she was indicating.

Without lifting her eyes from the page, Arian wandered over to the couch and flopped down, swinging her legs up until she was stretched out, her book held up above her face.

She frowned for a moment, thinking about Kayleigh, letting herself be distracted. She genuinely liked the child. She knew part of the reason why, and was waiting for Squall's reaction when he noticed what she had already seen. But there was more to it than that. She felt a real affection for Kayleigh.

Arian shook her head and grinned. Whatever feeling this was, it was unfamiliar to her and she let herself sink back into her book.

Meanwhile, Laguna dumped his shirt on the floor. _She was right. It _does_ smell._ He conceded. Cracking the door open, he peered out into the room, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Arian had put her book on the floor and lay on the couch, with her hands folded lightly across her stomach. 

Laughing quietly to himself, he ran a hand under the tap until it was ice cold and snuck soundlessly out towards her. Standing just behind her head, he lifted his hand.

"Don't even think it." Arian said calmly, without moving or opening her eyes. 

"How did you…?"

Arian's eyes flashed open and she grinned. "I always know what you're doing. _Always_. Remember that."

Grumbling to himself, Laguna wiped his hand on his trousers and shook his head. "Always is an exaggeration."

"Is it? Are you sure about that?" She raised an eyebrow. "If I was feeling _really_ mean, I'd tell you to stop watching me when I'm asleep, but I don't mind it that much."

He blinked at her, shocked. "What? How did you know about that? I _know _you were definitely asleep!"

Arian smiled and shut her eyes again. "I know. I always know when you're watching me. I can feel it. It even manages to wheedle its way into my sleep-drugged mind. I just can feel it."

Laguna stood in silence for a while, somewhat unnerved by that, and Arian sank back into whatever she had been thinking about before she had been interrupted. Shaking himself, Laguna knelt just behind the couch and ran his hands across her shoulders. 

"Arian…?" 

"No."

"But I haven't even said anything yet!" He protested. "You don't know what I'm going to say!"

"It's the wheedling tone of voice. And the answer's no. I'm thinking about something."

"Aww, c'mon! You can think about stuff later." 

Arian sighed and opened her blue eyes again. "I want to think about it now. So leave me alone. I'm un-seducible, anyway."

"You ain't." He snickered quietly.

"I am today. Just leave me be for a bit. Please? Stop looking at me with those disgustingly gorgeous eyes of yours and go and take your stinkin' shower." Arian closed her eyes peaceably again, fully expecting to be left alone. 

"You're no fun anymore." Laguna shook his head and took hold of the top of her arms, pulling her backwards over the arm of the couch and onto the floor.

"Hey! Hey, wait a minute! Ow! That hurt! I said to leave me alone! Laguna, if you don't stop this instant…" Her voice trailed off when he stopped dragging her across the floor and she glared up. "I was _thinking_! I know you don't know a lot about that, but don't stop others when they are engaged in an activity you don't understand."

"Ooh, that was catty." He commented. 

"Serves you right." 

"Y'know, anyone'd think that you didn't like me or something."

Arian shrugged. "What? You wanna play at being happy newly-weds or something? That's dull. Very dull. This is much more fun."

"I guess." He chuckled. "Lighten up, Arian. You're starting to get as moody as Squall. And that takes some doing."

"Don't even joke about that comparison. It's too scary for words." She tilted her head. "Stop looking at me like that. I mean it."

"Like what?" Laguna smiled innocently, leaning over her upside-down face and smothering her answer with a long kiss. He pulled back just as she started to relax into it, her arms reaching up towards him. "'Bye." He said with an irreverent grin, darting away into the bathroom.

"Bastard." Arian muttered quietly, rolling quickly to her feet and marching after him, completely disgruntled and fully intending to make sure that he knew exactly how disgruntled she was. She stalked through the doorway and blinked bemusedly when she didn't see him anywhere. Arian spun round, hearing the door close behind her. 

"Hi." Laguna said amiably, looking slightly smug as he leaned back against the door.

"I can't believe I actually fell for that. I cannot _believe_ that I… Oh, that was idiocy worthy of you!" She exclaimed. 

He ignored the outburst and walked towards her a ways. "You like games, don't you? You have a competitive streak in you. You love winning."

"Now this depends what you're talking about. Snakes and ladders doesn't exactly appeal right now." She snickered quietly.

He whispered something to her and her face grew thoughtful. "That sounds sort of interesting. But I'll win." She said simply, the sense of competition immediately taking hold.

"Don't be so sure."

***************

Squall walked down the corridor towards Laguna and Arian's room, absorbed in his own thoughts. Thankfully, the sound of running water drowned out the hysterical giggling and the conversation that was occurring was out of his earshot.

"Ooh!" An unheard voice exclaimed. "That was cheating! You were cheating! That's not fair!"

"Whaddya mean 'cheating'? How can I cheat? There aren't any rules!"

After a slight pause the original voice continued. "It _had_ to be cheating. There's no way that's allowed."

Oblivious, Squall tapped on the door and stood back, waiting.

"Was that the door?"

"Nah. You're hearing things. Hey! I thought you said that was cheating?!"

"Hell, I thought _you_ said there weren't any rules?"

"Good point…"

Starting to get impatient, Squall banged loudly on the door. "Laguna! Arian! Are you in there?"

"There _is_ someone at the door! I told you!"

"Squall… Great."

"We should probably answer… right?"

There was a very long pause.

"Yeah. You can get it. Go on, Arian."

"_Me?!_" 

"Yeah. You."

There was an almost inaudible shriek and the sound of someone stumbling, almost as if they'd been pushed. 

"Thanks for that. I love you too." A sarcastic voice drawled. "Hey, who won, anyway?"

"Um… I don't actually know… I think it was a draw."

"Yeah, you're just saying that 'cause you lost…"

"Actually, if you'd like me to remind you about…"

"No. Ok. Draw."

Still completely unaware, Squall sighed and rolled his eyes. After a few moments, the door was pulled open and Arian gestured him inside, brushing her long, wet hair. 

"Laguna, the great SeeD Commander is honouring us with his presence!" She called, smiling sweetly at Squall.

"I didn't come here for banter, Arian. Stop it."

Arian merely shrugged, indicating that she would do what she liked, regardless of what he said.

"And if you're up to something involving Kayleigh, you can stop that as well. I won't let you involve her in any of your stupid plots."

"I'm not up to anything. I wouldn't harm her or ever involve her in anything like that. But next time you see her, look closely. Look closer than you have been doing and you'll see what I've seen. And it's not my doing. It's _your_ doing." She grinned suddenly. "You yourself put it there. It's not got a damn thing to do with me."

Laguna emerged from the other room, half-dressed and meandering around the room in his quest for a clean shirt. "Oh, hi Squall. What did you want?"

"I thought I'd tell you that me and Rinoa are going to get married. We always meant to, but there was always so much going on…" His voice trailed off and he shrugged. "Anyhow, Rinoa wanted to wait until she got thin again, so we'll let you know when we start planning it properly."

"Married? What a coincidence…" Laguna breathed quietly, innocently. The comment was too low for Squall to hear, but Arian caught it and bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing.

"And I wanted to clear up a few things. Names, in specific."

"What?" Laguna looked round, confused.

Squall pointed to Arian. "She's not _ever_ going to be referred to as 'grandma' or anything of that sort. Do we all understand that? She's _not_."

"Excuse me? You think I'd _want_ to be?" Arian interrupted with a short laugh. "And don't talk about me like I'm not here. I'm most _definitely_ here." She gave Squall a malicious smile. "And if you keep behaving like that I'll start to fill you in on things you _really_ don't want to know about, starting with what we were doing before you decided to turn up. And you _really_ don't want to know _that_."

Squall gave her a long flat look and decided not to press that line of inquiry any further. "So what does Kayleigh call you when she gets older? I want to sort this out now, before things start to get hectic."

The woman shrugged. "What's wrong with my name? Everyone else just uses my name, so why can't she?"

Nodding, Squall turned to leave. 

"Hang on. What about me?" Laguna interrupted, having finally found a shirt that was clean and didn't look too much like he'd slept in it. That was always a problem when Arian did the packing for their journeys to Garden. She wasn't very good at it and everything looked horrendous when it was pulled out of the bag at the other end of the trip. "I'm not going to stand here and let you label me as 'grandpa' or something. I _really_ don't care for that at all."

The weary commander turned back with a heavy sigh. "Laguna, what exactly are you talking about? Or is this just your usual aimless drivel? If so, save it for Arian. She seems to enjoy listening to it."

"See? You just call me by name. I don't mind, but wouldn't it be easier if Kayleigh did too? And it would make me a lot more comfortable."

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." He paused. "Do you want to come and see her now? I think Rinoa's awake, so it'd be ok."

***************

When they reached the room, Squall remembered what Arian had said to him and he leaned over towards Rinoa, his eyes searching, scanning his daughter's face for whatever the woman had seen. As his grey eyes traced out her features, a slight suspicion began to form in his mind. He glanced quickly up at Laguna.

"Oh no… Please no…" He muttered, seeing the smug smile on Arian's face and knowing he had hit upon what she already knew. He brushed gently at the raven hair on the child's head. The features, though babyish, were unmistakable. Squall didn't know how he had missed it before. Kayleigh was going to grow up into a female version of Laguna. Squall prayed desperately that she had inherited some measure of intelligence from somewhere and that the likeness would only be superficial. He still loved and adored his child, but he hoped frantically that he wouldn't have to put up with a small, female Laguna running around, causing havoc.

"What?" Laguna asked, confused.

"Squall's just had a little shock." Arian grinned gleefully. "Didn't you notice how much Kayleigh looks like you?"

"Does she? Yeah. I guess she does." 

Rinoa tilted her head to one side. "Didn't you notice before, Squall? I thought you'd already seen it."

Arian shrugged. "I think it's nice."

"You would…" Squall muttered darkly, any further comment stilled abruptly when he noticed something else. Arian had raised her hand to brush her hair back and the light caught something on her finger. He watched as she lowered her hand and it became apparent what the object was. His gaze darted quickly to his father's hand and his worst nightmare was confirmed. 

Becoming increasingly angry, Squall's usual frown deepened and he raised a shaking hand to point at them. "_You_…!" He began, infuriated with them both.

Quickly noting what Squall had seen, Rinoa took charge of the situation by placing Kayleigh firmly in his arms, leaving him unable to do anything. 

"Shush, Squall. It really doesn't matter." She said calmly, leaving him to only able to fume at them while he held Kayleigh. "When? It seems a bit sudden. And how come we didn't get an invite?" Rinoa smiled.

"Um… yesterday, actually." Laguna told her happily, still watching Squall for any sudden outbursts. "Yesterday at about… half past eleven in the evening, I think. Then we got the message about Kayleigh and came straight over here."

"It was _very_ sudden." Arian put in with a short laugh. "Something along the lines of 'Hey, let's get married, it'll be really fun.'"

"Oh, that's sooo sweet! And that's what happened? You just kind of went and got married? Just like that? Squall, why can't you ever do something nice and surprise me like that?"

Squall just looked at her, bewildered, and Rinoa sighed and gave up. 

"Sweet? Surreal was a bit more like it. It was one of the more bizarre experiences I've been through." The blonde woman said with a faint smile. "Oh, and Squall? It was Laguna's fault. He asked, so don't think this was _my_ idea. It wasn't. And I don't know how he talked me into it."

Laguna grinned smugly, looking inordinately pleased with himself. "I can talk you into _anything._ I've got you wrapped around my little finger and I reckon you'll do more or less whatever I want you to."

After a long pause while Arian gave Laguna a steady look, she answered. "I don't believe you. I wouldn't _necessarily_ do what you wanted me to." 

"It's up to you what you believe. I don't care. But I'm right." He said loftily, and the death-look he was directed for the comment was one of the more outraged looks he'd ever been on the receiving end of. 

Squall watched in his usual silence and he sighed. He truly didn't think that either Laguna or Arian would ever grow up. It wasn't just the bickering. They didn't seem to ever change. Arian looked the same as she had two years ago, when he had first seen her, and Laguna… Laguna didn't really look that much older than when Squall had seen him in the past, nineteen years ago. Neither of the two looked over about thirty. It was Squall's considered opinion that, knowing his luck, they were probably both immortal. 

"Hiya!" Selphie burst in, followed quickly by Zell and Irvine. "We thought we'd just stop by again!" 

Muttering something under her breath, Arian grabbed at Laguna's hand. "Let's go. The chirpy atmosphere that emanates from that girl really makes me depressed."

Squall made a mental note to keep Selphie around for as long as possible. The cheerful girl might be annoying, but it appeared that she had her uses.

***************

It was almost midnight when Arian slid silently out of bed, pulled on her dressing gown and crept from the room to wander down the silent, deserted corridors of Garden. 

Laguna opened one eye as she shut the door, bemused about what she was up to. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea to let her wander around Garden by herself. She had a vicious sense of humour and Squall had been in such a good mood lately that Laguna didn't want to have it spoiled by one of Arian's amusements. Apart from that, there was just the simple curiosity about what she was up to that she obviously didn't want him to know about. 

He grinned and slipped out the door after her. It was kind of fun just to know that she didn't know he was there. He stayed some distance behind her as she wandered Garden, keeping to the shadows and staying out of her line of vision.

When Arian stopped outside Squall and Rinoa's room, listening carefully at the door before entering, Laguna frowned. _What _is_ she up to? _He watched as she emerged from the room, carrying a small bundle and crept into the room next door.

He leaned against the doorframe of the room she'd entered and folded his arms loosely, waiting to see what she would do.

Arian sat in a chair with her back to the door, completely unaware of her audience. She held Kayleigh tightly for a moment and sighed heavily. "You are so beautiful." She whispered, not wishing to wake anyone. Squall and Rinoa had been fast asleep when she had slipped into their room and stolen their child from her cradle. 

She was silent for a moment, enjoying the solitude. "You're going to have a hard time, little one. Life isn't going to be easy for you. Everyone's going to expect you to be a brilliant SeeD, like Squall, or some kind of sorceress, like Rinoa. They'll look for any signs that you'll be like them. They're almost desperate for it. I don't know why." She paused reflectively. "Well, not everyone will look for it. Your mum and dad won't mind what you are. They'll love you no matter what. But they kind of have to enforce rules, so you probably won't like them much while you grow up. You're lucky, Kayleigh. You have a reasonable family who cares for you. I didn't get that."

Arian shook her head and laughed. "Doesn't matter now. That's all over. It ended. It was horrific, but it was an end and I'm forever grateful for that. And I have Laguna now. It's enough just to say that. One day, when you can understand the words and not just the sentiment, I'll explain it to you. I'll explain what Squall has never been able to understand, and in the mean time, don't listen to what he says about me. He's misguided where I'm concerned." 

In the doorway, Laguna smiled and stifled a laugh. This was something he didn't expect. He didn't realise how far Arian's affection for Kayleigh ran. 

"Why do people insist that children can't truly understand the concept of love until they're older?" She continued thoughtfully. "It's a damn stupid idea. Of course they can! They just get confused and muddled up sometimes. But the idea of absolute love they know. I'm sure they do. I did."

There was a long silence in her monologue and the woman leaned down to kiss the top of the child's head. When she spoke again, there was a faint sound of tears in her voice. "You really are beautiful. You should stay like this. You shouldn't have to grow up. Only bad things happen when you grow up. It's best to stay like this, believe me. It's far better. Oh, Life is going to do such horrible things to you. It always does. Maybe they won't always seem such big things to other people, but something happens to everyone. Life isn't kind, but you have to live it. And there are good things, things that make it worthwhile. And if ever you get hurt or angry and everything seems to be pitted against you, I won't be. Not ever. I'll always be on your side. If there are times when even Squall and Rinoa seem to hate you, I'll be around if you need me. It doesn't matter if it's irrational or stupid or whatever. I promise."

The woman stood up and sighed. "I wish for your sake that you could stay as you are now. And in a strange way, I almost wish… that you were mine. Oh, I don't know. I guess you should go back to your parents now. They might wake up and find you missing."

Laguna moved silently across the room and stood behind her, feeling her freeze as he put his arms around her, peering over her shoulder at Kayleigh.

"How long have you been here?" She asked in an unfriendly tone, less than happy that he had intruded on something that was private.

"All the time, Arian. C'mon. You should put her back now." He smiled out of her sight. "As nice as your little speech was, I think she may be a bit young to appreciate the intricacies of it."

"I don't think she is." Arian said sharply. "I think she gets the sentiment of it."

"Let's not argue. _I_ appreciated it. And I didn't realise you were so enchanted with her. I thought you didn't like kids."

"For Kayleigh I've made an exception." She said loftily, turning and walking towards the door. 

Laguna smirked at her back. "I didn't think you'd ever like anything to do with Squall."

"I like you, don't I?" She countered.

He tried another comment, trying to rouse her from her serious thoughts. "I thought you always knew when I was watching you. How come you didn't notice me earlier?"

"I was distracted, okay? Just distracted. And quit laughing at me, Laguna. It's not funny. I mean it."

As was usual, Arian was more or less ignored and Laguna didn't stop laughing at her all the while she returned Kayleigh and as they walked back along the corridors.

***************

It was a fine morning a few days later when Laguna and Arian walked down another one of the grey corridors of Garden, on their way to see Kayleigh, yet again.

They had decided to go back to Esthar after a particularly sarcastic message from Kiros that enquired as to whether or not they were _ever_ planning to return home.

"I don't want to go back." Arian grumbled quietly. "I want to stay here, where Kayleigh is."

Snickering, Laguna shook his head. "I can't believe you at the moment. Arian actually likes a baby. It's nothing short of a miracle."

"Oh, be quiet. It's not as funny as all that."

"Yeah, it is." He said, grinning to himself and ignoring her. "Gee, Arian. I thought you were born without any hint of mothering instinct." 

"Will you stop it, already? Stop making fun of me." She stopped walking and folded her arms.

"Just don't start going soppy on me, Arian. I couldn't cope with that. It'd be… _really_ strange."

The blonde woman gave him an expressive look that spoke volumes and decided that she was above answering that comment. She was well aware that Laguna knew full well that she wasn't the callous, sarcastic person she liked to pretend she was and the comment was a surprisingly subtle dig at that aspect of her.

After a moment of thought, she decided to take out the small amount of irritation that had been provoked in her on her favourite target for such things: Squall. 

Watching the slow smile cross her face, Laguna got edgy. "Okay, what's so funny all of a sudden?"

"Nothing." She smiled. "Absolutely nothing."

"Nuh-uh. I don't believe you. You never smile like that for a nice reason. That's your special I'm-going-to-do-something-really-evil-and-love-every-minute-of-it look."

Arian shrugged. "Do I look like I care?" She started to edge forwards until she was right in front of him and waved sweetly up at him in a particularly impish way. "I can be soppy if I want, can't I?"

"Yeah, I guess." Laguna said slowly, still not sure what was going on. That smile still hadn't faltered and remained firmly fixed on her face.

"You _do_ love me, don't you?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I just like a bit of confirmation now and then. That's all." Arian said, lying through her teeth. She had no need for any reassurance from him, but it was a good enough excuse for now.

He sighed gently as her lips moved across his neck, but something wasn't right. Something about her demeanour was wrong. "Arian… hey, wait a minute." He panicked suddenly and pushed her back, half-conscious that she wasn't being entirely genuine.

Arian leaned back and smiled smugly, viewing her handiwork with a great deal of satisfaction. "Yes. That'll do nicely."

Raising his hand to his neck, Laguna gave her a reproachful look, realising now what she had been up to. The mark she'd left would be the perfect thing to wind Squall up. "Now, really… Do you _have_ to do things like this?" He reprimanded.

She pretended to think for a moment. "Yes. Hey, wait. Where are you going? Kayleigh's in the other direction."

Laguna turned back. "You carry on. I'll catch up."

Arian shrugged, puzzled. "Fine." 

She walked into the room and gritted her teeth, wincing, when she saw Selphie. 

"Hiya!" The girl chirruped happily. "Have you come to see Kayleigh?"

"Yeah." Arian sighed, spotting Seifer and Pandora and quickly moving over to talk to them in an attempt to avoid the hyperactive SeeD. 

"Heh. The Leonhart brat's a girl." Seifer sniggered quietly. 

Panda stared at him pointedly. "Are you implying that that's inferior in some way?" 

"Ah, no… That's not what I meant… It's just sort of funny. Squall's sprog is a girl. So much for all that mighty warrior stuff." He stopped abruptly seeing the dangerous look on Pandora's face. "Panda… I didn't mean…"

"I think you did."

"When you're in a hole, stop digging, Seifer." Arian put in helpfully. "I really wouldn't say anything else." She paused thoughtfully. "Well… you _could_… it's your life. If you're prepared to risk it…"

Squall looked over from where he'd been quietly nursing his daughter, oblivious to this chaos happening around him until now. "What did you want, Arian?"

An evil glint entered the woman's eyes and she opened her mouth to speak but Squall pre-empted her comment. "Don't say it. Just don't. Please." He sighed. 

She shrugged. "Just came to see Kayleigh. We're going home so we thought we'd say goodbye."

Squall raised an eyebrow, the rest of his expression remaining unchanged. "We?"

"Laguna'll be along in a minute. And I think Elle's planning to stay here for a bit to help Rinoa out."

On cue, the subject in question walked in and made his way towards them.

"Speak of the devil…" Squall muttered under his breath. 

"Now really… You are such a spoilsport." Arian frowned, and Laguna gave her a smug smile, leaving Squall to puzzle over the conversation and to wonder why Laguna had suddenly taken to wearing high-necked clothes.

"When are you going exactly?" The long-suffering SeeD commander asked pointedly.

"Um… now, I guess." Laguna shrugged, reaching down to the baby. "Bye Kayleigh. We'll see you soon."

"Could we sort of take her with us?" Arian asked hopefully and the expression on Squall's face was cold and black. "That would be a no, then. Okay." 

"Are you _please_ going to go now?" Squall pleaded. "I'll bring Kayleigh to visit you sometime soon."

"Yeah, alright. Say bye to Rinoa for us." Laguna turned to leave, but Arian wasn't ready to go quite yet. She straightened up after peering down and saying goodbye to Kayleigh and reached up nonchalantly to his neck. 

"Hey! No!" He slapped her hand away and she folded her arms for a brief moment before determinedly trying again. "Will you quit that? Right… That's it." 

There was a short struggle, resolved when Laguna picked Arian up and started for the door. "Bye Squall. Bring Rinoa and Kayleigh by soon."

Squall merely rolled his eyes as the bickering recommenced, Arian squirming and trying to manoeuvre herself into a position where she could pull the neck of Laguna's shirt down and Laguna making sure that that wasn't going to happen. 

"This isn't fair! All the trouble I went to, thinking of that idea… And you're not gonna let me! It's sooo unfair."

"Don't whinge. I'm not going to change my mind." Laguna shook his head, walking towards the door.

"Please?" 

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Why do you keep saying that? The answer isn't suddenly going to turn into yes." He sighed. 

"You have to give me marks for persistence though, don't you?" Arian countered, the sound of her voice fading as they walked down the corridor.

Squall sighed and shut his eyes, offering a thankful prayer up to Hyne, grateful that the general chaos of Garden had just been reduced somewhat.


End file.
